THE PRESIDENT: Thank you all very much. I'm so very honored to
join all of you in paying respects -- our respect to our nation's
fallen law enforcement officers. Every year on this day, we pause to
remember the sacrifice and faithful services of officers lost in the
line of duty throughout our nation's history. And we add to the
National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial the names of men and women
lost in the past year, as well as some who fell in the line of duty in
other times. They accepted the hard responsibilities of a great and
essential calling.

Our fallen officers died in service to justice, and in defense of
the innocent. They will never be forgotten by their comrades, they
will never be forgotten by their country. And today, in the presence
of so many families and friends they loved, our nation pays tribute in
pride, and in gratitude.

I appreciate Chuck Canterbury's leadership and his friendship. I
also want to thank Aliza Clark. I appreciate Jim Pasco as the
executive director of the Fraternal Order of the Police, who has worked
hard to make this a special event for those who grieve.

I want to thank my friend, the Attorney General, John Ashcroft.
He's doing a great job on behalf of the American people. I appreciate
FBI Director Mueller, other members of my administration. I want to
thank Duke Cunningham and other members of Congress who have joined
us.

I also thank all the family members who have come to Washington for
this service. For each of you, there is a name on the National Law
Enforcement Officers Memorial that will always stand apart. You feel
the hurt of loss and separation, but I hope that you don't feel alone.
A lot of people are praying for you, and you can know today that our
nation will always remember the one you loved.

They were among the more than 800,000 men and women who serve as
officers of the law in the United States. On the wall are the names of
U.S. marshals and county sheriffs, deputies, state patrolmen, municipal
police, federal agents, Coast Guard officers, and others who are in the
business of protecting their fellow citizens. America's men and women
in law enforcement carry different responsibilities and serve different
jurisdictions. Yet, in all of those jobs, we look for the same basic
qualities of character: for personal discipline, alertness of mind,
and courage. Our country and our neighborhoods depend on such people.
And fortunately for us all, they keep coming forward.

We look for people like Sergeant Jason Pratt of the Omaha Police
Department. He was shot last September at the age of 30, while helping
a fellow officer pursue a suspect. A colleague said of Sergeant Pratt,
"He was always willing to step up and take the point." And when he
died, more than 20 police officers were at the hospital with him. As
the mayor of the city put it, "Omaha lost one of its protectors, but
his family lost much more." Those same words are true in every
community, every time an officer of the law is taken from us.

When the innocent need defending, we look for people like Trooper
Nik Green, of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, who was shot and killed by a
drug dealer resisting arrest. He died on the morning after Christmas
on a stretch of highway just over a mile from his home, where he left
behind a wife and three young daughters. This good man was also a
youth pastor at First Baptist Church, where hundreds of his fellow
State Troopers came to pay their final respects. The pastor said of
Trooper Green, "He set a standard that we're left challenged by. We're
going to hurt for a long, long time."

To bring help in desperate hours, we look for people like Officer
Patrick Hardesty of the Tucson Police Department. He was shot and
killed by a fleeing suspect in a hit-and-run. Officer Hardesty had
seen danger before, during his 20 years as a United States Marine. He
is survived by his wife, their three children, and comrades who say
they thought of him more as a brother than a friend. A colleague said
of Officer Hardesty, "Even before he became a good cop, he was a really
good man."

These are the characteristics we honor today; really good men.
These officers, and the others we recognize at this service, reported
to work not knowing that the day would bring the end of their watch.
In the words of a colleague of one fallen officer, "We all take it for
granted that they will come back home safe and sound after their
shift. Then one day, they don't." That is a part of the heroism of
law enforcement -- knowing that the most routine calls can turn
suddenly violent. In the worst of moments, that is the heroism that
faces danger, and risks all for the safety of strangers. And in every
moment, our country is in debt to the men and women in patrol cars, on
bikes and on foot, and standing post -- and we must never take them for
granted. (Applause.)

The nearness to danger inspires a special loyalty among those who
carry a shield and enforce the law. And when one is lost, the family
left behind is cared for, and held close, by the brotherhood of law
enforcement. In the Memorial, and in countless acts of love and
kindness, the fallen are remembered and honored. And this afternoon,
on behalf of all Americans, I offer the respect of a grateful nation.
Their calling in life was to keep the peace. And we pray they have
found the peace in the Almighty God.